Bilateral Buttock Lipo-Augmentation (BBL) Sydney

Do I have other surgical options for a bigger butt?

Other options are available for buttock enhancement surgery.

Bilateral Buttock Augmentation with Implants

The use of silicone implants for buttock augmentation has been around for many years. Unlike breast implant surgery, Buttock implant surgery is associated with very high complication rates and therefore many surgeons do not perform them. Dr Dona does not offer buttock implant surgery.

Bilateral Buttock Lipectomy (Lift) Surgery

A buttock lift is a skin-tightening procedure which eliminates loose, hanging skin from above the buttocks, which elevates the typically low hanging buttock tissues to improve the shape and tightness of the entire buttock.

Patients who have loose skin above their buttocks are the best candidate for this procedure. Patients who have undergone massive weight loss are typical candidates for this surgery. The extra skin must be surgically removed to get the best lift.

For this buttock lift technique, an ellipse of skin and fat is excised from the upper part of the buttock at the junction with the lower back.  After this skin is excised, the skin is sutured back together so that there is no loose skin above the buttocks and the buttocks are lifted. This allows for a true elevation of the buttock tissues and a reshaping of the entire buttock.

In order to remove the excess skin and tissue, a scar will appear where the skin is joined back together. It is similar to an abdominoplasty surgery but involving your butt.

Note: This is a very different procedure from the BBL, which alters the buttocks by injecting your own fat into the buttocks – no skin is removed.

How much fat can you inject?

The amount of fat that can be injected into each buttock cheek can vary from 400ml up to 2000ml! However, most surgeons would typically use no more than 1000ml per cheek.

Whilst it is tempting to think that more is better, this is not quite true.

A number of factors determine how much fat is injected. These include:

• How much is available
• How much is wanted/needed
• The tightness/looseness of the skin and buttock tissues

Unfortunately, the more fat that’s injected, the greater the percentage of fat that does not survive. Therefore it becomes counterproductive and increases the potential complications if too much fat is injected. The best analogy is if you place a few plant seeds in a small pot of soil. If you sow a small number of seeds, all are likely to germinate and survive/sprout. If a very large number of seeds are placed in that small pot of soil, many of them will die and only a smaller percentage will survive/germinate. There is a limit to how many seeds will survive and grow within a limited space.

How much of the transferred fat survives?

This is a highly controversial question and many surgeons will provide conflicting answers. Numerous factors affect how much of the fat will survive, and therefore contribute to a long lasting result. These include:

• Surgical technique for the liposuction
• Fat processing technique
• Fat re-injection technique
• Fat volume injected
• Patients general health
• Smoking
• Patients’ compliance with post-operative instructions
• Unknown!

What all surgeons agree on is that a substantial percentage of the fat that is re-injected does NOT survive. The figures used varies anywhere between 20-50%. However, whatever is left after 3-6 months has survived and is permanent.

Can you have other surgical procedures with a BBL?

A BBL can take up to 4 hours to perform. In addition to this, the requirements to avoid sitting and restricted sleeping positions makes it highly undesirable to have any other surgical procedures at the same time as your BBL. Doing so significantly increases the risks of potential complications and compromises the potential results of your BBL and the associated other procedure.

Therefore, Dr Dona will typically not perform any other operation, such as an abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) or Breast Augmentation at the same time as your BBL surgery.